Aboriginal  American  Weaving 


--  BY- 


MISS  MARY  LOIS  KISSELL, 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


A  Paper  Read  before  The  National  Association  of  Cotton  Manufacturers 

at  their  Eighty-eighth   Meeting  at  Mechanics  Fair  Building, 

Boston,  Mass.,  April  27th,  1910. 


ABORIGINAL  AMERICAN   WKAVING. 

Miss    MARY    Lois    KISSELL,    American    Museum    of   Natural    History, 

New  York  City. 

Wonderful  as  is  the  development  of  modern  machinery  for  the 
manufacture  of  American  textiles  —  machinery  which  seems 
almost  human  in  the  way  it  converts  raw  materials  into  finished 
cloth;  just  as  surprising  are  the  most  primitive  looms  of  the 
American  aborigines,  who  without  the  aid  of  machinery  niaice 
interesting  weavings  with  only  a  bar  upon  which  to  suspend  the 
warp  threads  while  the  human  hand  completes  all  the  processes 
of  manufacture.  Modern  man's  inventive  genius  in  the  textile 
art  has  been  expended  upon  perfecting  the  machinery,  while 
primitive  man's  ingenuity  has  resulted  in  making  a  beautiful 
weaving  with  very  simple  means. 

No  doubt  could  we  know  the  history  of  primitive  loomwork 
in  America  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  white  man,  we  would  find 
an  extended  distribution  of  weaving,  but  all  early  textiles  have 
been  lost  owing  to  the  destructability  of  the  material  and  the 
lack  of  climatic  and  other  conditions  suitable  for  their  preserva- 
tion—  conditions  such  as  are  present  in  the  hot  desert  lands 
of  the  Southwest  and  the  coast  region  of  Peru.  However,  so 
many  impressions  of  weavings  have  been  found  on  early  pottery 
as  to  assure  us  that  beautiful  work  of  this  kind  was  made  in 
eastern,  middle  and  southern  United  States.  In  western  British 
Columbia  at  the  present  time  there  are  tribes  carrying  on  certain 
forms  of  weaving  which  show  four  interesting  types. 

The  simplest  type  is  the  cedar  bark  mat  woven  of  flat  strips 
in  horizontal  and  vertical  lines.  In  beginning  wide  strips  of  the 


FIGURE    1.  —  KWAKIUTL   SQUAW,    WEAVING. 


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inner  bark  arc  hung  from  their  centre  over  a  crossbar  of  wood 
which  is  supported  at  either  end  by  an  upright  beam.  The 
halves  of  the  strips  hanging  in  front  are  then  split  into  strands  of 
the  desired  width  and  a  line  of  fine  twining  woven  across  to  hold 
them  securely.  The  checker  weaving  of  the  mat  is  now  begun  at 
the  left  edge  by  doubling  the  weft  element  over  the  last  warp  and 
then  weaving  with  the  doubled  element  over  and  under  one  warp 
until  the  right  edge  is  reached  where  it  is  turned  back  and 
slipped  under  an  inch  of  the  weaving  just  completed.  Figure  I 
shows  a  squaw  at  work  on  such  a  mat,  and  when  she  has  com- 
pleted this  half  of  the  mat  the  second  half  will  be  undertaken.  She 
finishes  the  edge  by  turning  up  the  warp  ends  below  the  last 

\ 


FIGURE   2.  — MAT   WITH    CHECKED   DESIGN. 


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line  of  weft  and  binds  them  with  a  row  of  twining  just  above  this 
last  weft. 

In  their  industries,  primitive  people  always  utilize  the  materials 
found  in  their  environment, "because  no  means  is  afforded  them, 
as  in  modern  life,  for  the  transportation  of  materials  from  a  dis- 
tance. British  Columbia  is  rich  in  cedar  trees,  so  it  is  not 
strange  that  material  from  this  tree  enters  so  largely  into  the 
weaving  of  this  region.  Cedar  bark  lends  itself  very  delightfully 
to  the  technic  of  these  mats,  and  its  golden  bro\vn  checked 
surface  is  at  times  crossed  by  black  lines  or  broken  by  a  group 
of  black  checks  in  simple  designs.  These  vary  greatly,  but 
only  one  example  (Figure  2)  can  be  shown  here.  \ 


FIGURE   3.  — PRIMITIVE   LOOM    WITH  PLAITED   MAT. 

The  second  type  of  weaving,  also  of  cedar  bark,  is  begun  like 
the  last  mat,  but  the  elements  are  so  placed  as  to  cros^  the  sur- 
face diagonally  —  alternate  strips  passing,  diagonally  downward 
to  the  right  and  left  as  in  Figure  3.  These  strips  are  not  woven 
but  plaited  over  and  under  each  other  without  the  addition  of  a 
weft  element  as  in  weaving.  When  the  side  edge  is  reached 
the  strips  turn  over  at  right  angles  and  continue  to  plait  in  the 


changed  oblique  direction.  The  lower  edges  are  finished  by 
bending  the  elements  at  right  angles  and  plaiting  them  obliquely 
back  for  an  inch  into  the  completed  surface.  Checked  weaving 
and  plaiting  is  employed  in  a  variety  of  ways,  for  aside  from 
mattings  it  enter  into  the  construction  of  baskets,  pouches,  bags, 
sails,  raincoats,  baby's  hoods,  and  a  number  of  other  articles. 


MGUKE    4.  — ANOTHER   TYPE   OF   LOOM. 

Cedar  bark  which  has  been  softened  and  shredded  plays  an 
important  part  in  the  clothing  of  this  region,  especially  in 
blankets  like  that  in  Figure  4.  The  blanket  here,  however,  is 
not  of  cedar  bark  but  of  goat's  hair  for  a  number  of  materials 
are  made  use  of  by  this  technic.  In  this  weaving  the  warps  are 
not  thrown  over  the  crossbeam  as  in  the  other  loom  but  are 
supported  on  a  cord  which  itself  is  bound  to  the  beam  by 
another  cord.  Neither  are  the  warps  united  by  a  strip  of  weft 
running  over  and  under  but  by  a  two  strand  weft  element  which 


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twines  about  the  warps.  To  my  knowledge  this  form  of  weaving 
has  never  been  reproduced  by  machinery  as  no  machine  can  make 
threads  twine.  The  blankets  of  cedar  bark  are  undecorated, 
but  those  of  wool  frequently  have  strands  of  another  color 
passed  across  the  surface  and  caught  into  the  weaving  from  time 
to  time,  producing  similar  designs  to  that  in  Figure  4.  As 
observed  in  the  illustration  the  lines  of  weft  are  not  driven 
home  but  are  set  some  distance  apart,  the  space  between  vary- 
ing on  different  garments.  At  the  lower  edge,  however,  there 
is  frequently  found  a  band  of  closely  woven  twining,  at  other 
times  a  band  of  fur,  or  a  long  fringe  may  complete  the  edge. 


FIGURE    f,.  — UNFINISHED   CFIILKAT    BLANKET. 

The  most  beautiful  weaving  of  western  British  Columbia  i 
Chilkat  blanket,  Figures  5  and  6,  a  weaving  which  is  unique  Tn 
technic  and  design,  both  in  primitive  and  modern  textile^irt.  It 
is  a  ceremonial  garment  and  the  gorgeous  designs  in  white,  blue, 
yellow  and  black  are  of  totemic  significance  and  relate  to  the 
ceremonial  life  of  the  Indian.  In  earliest  times  this  blanket  was 


FIGURE  u.— OLD  CIULIVAT 


undecoratccl,  a  plain  field  of  white;  then  color  was  introduced 
on  the  white  field  in  stripes  of  herring-bone  pattern  typifying 
raven's  tail,  because  similar  to  the  vanes  of  the  tail  feathers;  and 
later  the  elaborate  geometric  designs  of  present  day  blankets 
developed.  These  designs  arc  first  painted  upon  a  pattern  board 
the  size  and  shape  of  those  which  are  to  appear  upon  the  blanket, 
and  it  is  from  this  pattern  board  that  the  squaw  weaves  her  pattern. 
But  although  the  woman  (Figure  7)  does  weave  the  blanket,  the 
man  also  has  his  part  in  the  process  as  he  furnishes  the  loom, 
the  pattern  board  and  the  skin  of  the  goat.  The  squaw  pre- 
pares all  the  materials  and  collects  the  bark,  for  the  warp  is 
of  shredded  two-ply  cedar  bark  wrapped  with  a  thread  of  wool, 
while  the  weft  is  entirely  of  the  soft  wool  of  the  mountain  goat. 


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FIGURE  7.  — SQUAW    WEAVING   CHILKAT  BLANKET. 

Lieut.  G.  T.  EMMONS  tells  us  that  the  goat  of  this  region 
abounds  in  the  rugged  coast  mountains  from  Puget  Sound  to 
Cook's  Inlet,  but  is  unknown  on  the  outlying  islands.  Its  pref- 
erence is  the  glacial  belt  and  snow-fields  of  the  most  broken 
country  and  the  terraced  sides  of  the  precipitous  cliffs.  It  is 
gregarious  in  ha_bit  being  found  in  bands  of  from  ten  to  fifty  or 
more.  From  September  until  April  the  skin  is  in  prime  condi- 
tion with  an  abundance  of  soft  wool  under  a  heavy  covering  of 
long  coarse  hair;  but  the  hunting  is  only  done  in  the  autumn. 
To  prepare  for  the  plucking,  the  skin  must  be  kept  wet  on  the 
underside  so  it  is  moistened  and  rolled  up  for  several  days,  thus 
loosening  the  hold  of  the  fleece.  With  thumb  and  fingers  of  both 


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hands  the  squaw,  seated  upon  the  ground,  pushes  the  fleece  from 
her,  procuring  by  this  process  great  patches  of  wool  and  hair. 
Then' the  hairs  are  plucked  out  and  thrown  away  and  the  wool 
is  ready  to  be  spun.  During  the  spinning  the  woman  also  sits 
upon  the  ground  with  legs  outstretched,  with  the  crude  wool 
by  her  left  side  within  easy  reach.  This.,  she  draws  out  with 
her  left  hand  and  feeds  to  her  right,  in  the  amount  necessary  to 
form  the  required  size  of  thread.  As  it  is  received  between  the 
palm  of  the  right  hand  and  the  right  thigh,  it  is  rolled  from  the 
body  and  falls  to  the  side  in  loose,  connected  thread.  This  soft 
thread  is  next  spun  between  the  palm  of  the  hand  and  the 
thigh  to  form  a  single  tightly  twisted  strand  ;  and  by  the  same 
process  two  of  these  strands  are  rolled  together  to  form  the 


FIGURE   8. —A  THIRD  TYPE   OF   LOOM. 


weft  thread  for  the  blanket.  In  technic  the  blanket  is  related 
to  the  last  one  described  for  it  is  a  twine  weaving,  but  a  twilled 
twine  as  the  two  strand  weft  encloses  two  warps  at  a  move  and 
with  each  succeeding  line  of  weft  advances  one  warp  giving 
the  surface  a  twilled  effect.  It  is  interesting  that  the  small 
blocks  of  design  are  woven  separately  something  as  a  tapestry, 
and  later  the  blocks  are  sewed  together  with  a  thread  of  sinew 
from  the  caribou  or  whale. 


FIGURE   9.  — NAVAJO    LOOM. 


The  weaving  from  this  region  which  most  nearly  approaches 
machine  work  in  process  of  making  is  the  dog-hair  and  goat's 
wool  blanket.  It  is  woven  upon  a  loom  of  two  revolving  cylin- 
drical beams,  supported  by  upright  posts  at  cither  end  (Figure 
8).  The  end  of  the  warp  thread  is  attached  to  a  staying  cord 
stretched  from  post  to  post  about  midway  between  the  revolv- 
ing beams.  The  warp  then  encircles  the  loom,  catches  under 
the  staying  cord,  then  turns  and  travels  back  to  its  starting  point, 
there  to  catch  under  the  staying  cord  and  repeat  the  operation. 
The  weft  moves  across  the  warps  as  in  twilled  cloth,  over  two, 
under  two,  with  an  advance  of  one  warp  at  each  line  of  weft. 
Dog's  hair,  duck  down  and  goat's  wool  are  the  materials  used, 
especially  the  latter.  These  materials  arc  spun  in  two-ply 
thread  twisted  partly  upon  the  thigh  of  the  weaver  and  finished 
on  a  spindle.  ' 

Leaving  this  weaving  area  in  western  Britis|i  Columbia  we 
pass  to  the  other  locality  of  note  in  North  America  where  prim- 
itive weaving  is  practised,  —  in  southwestern  United  States  and 
northern  Mexico.  Mere  the  loom  work  is  at  a  more  advanced 
stage  of  development  than  that  of  the  northern  area,  the 
.weavers  making  use  of  a  loom  frame,  sheds,  healds,  batten  and 
an  improvised  shuttle.  The  Navajo  Indians  are  the  most  skilled 
weavers  north  of  Mexico  and  a  description  of  their  weaving  is 
fairly  typical  of  this  area.  As  the  warps  arc  of  soft  pliable 
threads  they  must  of  necessity  be  stretched  between  two  beams. 
These  are  suspended  vertically  if  the  weaving  is  to  be  of  any 
great  size,  the  distance  betxvcen  them  being  that  of  the  proposed 
length  of  the  blanket  (Figure  9).  The  warp  threads  are  not 
stretched  across  the  beams  with  an  oval  movement  but  are  laced 
over  them,  forming  two  sheds,  the  upper  of  which  is  held  intact 
by  means  of  the  shed-rod,  and  the  lower  by  a  set  of  healds 
passing  over  a  heald-red.  A  wooden  fork  serves  as  a  reed  and 
a  slender  twig  as  a  shuttle.  Upon  this  twig  is  loosely  wound 
from  end  to  end  the  weft  thread.  The  shuttle  at  one  move 
crosses  less  than  half  of  the  warps  as  the  batten  —  a  flat  stick  of 
hard  oak  —  is  too  short  to  open  more  than  that  length  of  the 
shed  for  the  passage  of  the  shuttle. 


FIGURE    10.— IIOI'I    BLANKET 


IT) 


FIGURE    11.  — IIOPI   WEAVING. 


1(5 


FIGURE    12.  — MEXICAN    SERAPE. 


In  Figure  10  only  a  portion  of  a  blanket  from  the  Hopi 
Indians  is  shown,  that  the  delicate  design  may  be  better  seen. 
A  number  of  Hopi  patterns  have  this  fine  white  line  of  tracery 
upon  the  dark  background  and  it  is  this  play  of  the  fine  line 
pattern  on  the  fabric  which  is  one  of  the  chief  beauties  of  Hopi 
weavings.  The  sparkle  of  white  is  even  more  brilliant  in  Figure 
11,  another  smaller  weaving  from  the  same  people.  They 
make  constant  use  of  the  diagonal  or  twilled  technic,  a  weave 
which  requires  that  the  warps  be  divided  into  four  sheds,  the 


17 


FIGURE    13.  — HUICHOL    WEAVING. 

upper  supplied  with  a  shed  stick,  the  three  lower  with  healds. 
The  sheds  are  shifted  in  a  variety  of  orders  for  the  construction 
of  different  patterns. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  weavings  the  writer   has   ever  seen 
from  the  southwest  is  that  pictured  in  Figure  12,  which  is,  how- 


18 

ever,  only  a  small  center  portion  of  the  beautiful  sirape  from 
Mexico.  The  pattern  in  two  colors  of  indigo  upon  a  tan 
colored  ground  is  especially  effective,  while  the  tiny  blue  dots 
sprinkled  upon  the  tan  surface  and  the  tan  dots  over  the  blue 
design  add  a  subtle  and  delightful  charm  not  frequently  met 
with. 

The  last  two  examples,  Figures  13  and  14,  are  also  from 
Mexico,  the  first  a  bit  of  weaving  with  animal  designs  from  the 
Huichol  Indians,  and  the  last  a  belt  loom  frorr^the  same  people. 
In  making  belts  and  other  narrow  fabrics  the  loom  is  either 
horizontal  or  oblique  in  position,  stretching  from  some  post  or 
tree  to  the  weaver  and  there  attached  to  a  loop  which  passes 
either  about  the  waist  or  under  the  thighs  and  rendered  tense 
by  the  weight  of  the  weaver.  These  belts  may  be  woven  with 
two  or  four  sheds  according  to  the  style  of  weaving  desired, 
while  another  method  of  pattern  work  on  two  shed  weaving  has 
the  addition  of  a  round  stick  run  into  the  warps  so  as  to  raise 
certain  threads  while  the  weft  passes  two  or  three  times  under- 
neath producing  a  variety  of  damask  weaving. 

The  stretch  between  these  simple  methods  of  primitive 
peoples  and  machine  methods  of  modern  life  is  great  indeed 
and  we  will  long  continue  to  wonder  that  with  such  crude 
devices  these  people  could  produce  results  which  compare 
favorably  with  our  modern  weavings. 


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FIGURE    14.  — MEXICAN    BELT   LOOM. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
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